BHARAT STAGE – VI
Why in News?
- International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) released India’s first Type Approval Certificate (TAC) for Bharat Stage – VI (BS – VI) norms for the two-wheeler segment.
Highlights:
- Bharat stage norms are the emission norms which the automotive manufacturers have to comply to sell their vehicles in India. These norms are applicable to all two wheelers, three wheelers, four wheelers, and construction equipment vehicles.
- To curb the growing menace of air pollution through the vehicle’s emission, the Government of India has decided to leapfrog from the existing BS – IV norms to the BS- VI, thereby skipping the BS – V norms, and to implement the BS – VI norms with effect from 1st April 2020. From 1st April 2020, only those vehicles will be sold and registered in India which complies with these norms.
- The norms are stringent and at par with global standards.
Difference between BS-IV and the new BS-VI:
- The major difference in standards between the existing BS-IV and the new BS-VI auto fuel norms is the presence of sulphur.
- The newly introduced fuel is estimated to reduce the amount of sulphur released by 80%, from 50 parts per million to 10 ppm.As per the analysts, the emission of NOx (nitrogen oxides) from diesel cars is also expected to reduce by nearly 70% and 25% from cars with petrol engines.
International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT):
- ICAT is the premier testing and certification agency authorized by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for providing testing and certification services to the vehicle and component manufacturers in India and abroad.
- It has the latest equipment, facilities, and capabilities to develop, validate, test and certify the engines and vehicles for the latest norms in the field of emission and many other facilities like crash lab, NVH lab, EMC lab and test tracks.